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Report: Record 1.1 Billion Pirate CDs Sold Worldwide in 2003

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 22, 2004 - 4:49am.
London -- Despite reaching a record 1.1 billion discs in 2003, global sales of pirated music CDs have spread more slowly in recent years due to stepped up enforcement efforts, according to a report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). CD piracy in 2003 grew at its slowest rate in four years (4%), although total estimated illegal music sales were valued at $4.5 billion, or about 15% of all recorded music sold. The IFPI also identified 10 countries -- including Brazil, China, Pakistan and Russia -- where "governments urgently need to crack down on rampant illegal music sales." "Commercial music piracy dominates large swathes of the world's music markets, despite an encouraging slowdown in growth in 2003," said IFPI chairman and CEO Jay Berman. "The responsibility now is for governments -- and especially on the 10 priority countries our report names -- to act decisively against the problem. This means proper enforcement, deterrent sentences against pirates, effective regulation of disc manufacturing and, above all, the political will to make sure real change happens."
tags: Reports | Records | Worldwide | Pirate CDs |